The Best Way to Make Clumpy Granola

All granola-lovers slide into two camps: clumpy and unclumpy (you know, the granola the place the toasted oats and crunchy insert-ins never really adhere together). I am firmly in the previous group, and usually have been. Give me all the craggy, crunchy clumps.

Clumpy granola is perfect for eating over yogurt or chia pudding or simply just with milk, and is also great for consuming on its very own as a snack. I’ve manufactured many batches of granola all over the several years, constantly with the objective of getting as a lot of of individuals irresistible clusters as probable. But what’s the best way to make clumpy granola?

Is a crushed egg white the mystery to super-clumpy granola? What about other binders, like flour or wheat germ? Or is it as uncomplicated as employing a reduce oven temperature and not stirring the granola? To find out, I pored by means of recipes and ideas on the internet and found nine well-liked approaches that I was energized to try — some of which I have utilized right before and several that were being new to me.

When there are a range of procedures that labored definitely very well, I observed two leading techniques for earning clumpy granola. A person just depends on a quite reduced oven temperature and creates modest clumps, even though the other — my individual favored — involves spreading and compacting the oat mixture on a rimmed baking sheet, creating significant shard-like clumps. Study on to master far more about these two strategies — and other solutions you may possibly want to test.

Components: I acquired contemporary offers of all ingredients from the exact keep, on the similar day, and made use of the exact manufacturer of like elements.

Assessments: Every batch of granola was baked in the similar oven. For each technique tested, I used the very same rimmed baking sheets and the similar kind of parchment paper (when referred to as for in the recipe).

Rankings criteria: I rated just about every technique on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 symbolizing the fantastic best. I judged each and every method on the adhering to criteria: Sum of clumps, size of clumps, how very well the clumps held collectively over time, texture of clumps, relieve of eating, simplicity of system, total time essential, and availability and value of ingredients.

About this strategy: I read about this suggestion on Food items52, which references Bon Appétit‘s recipe for Surfer’s Granola. Listed here, a full cup of hot tap water is stirred into the dry oats, then still left to sit for 15 minutes ahead of you commence with the recipe (which also skips any stirring throughout baking). The concept is that the water softens the oats, and stickiness from the starch will create more clumps, which will not be broken aside by stirring.

Results: I was especially intrigued and hopeful about this strategy. The positives to start with: This technique resulted in a great deal of good clumps of granola. But thanks to the final texture and uneven cook, it truly fell shorter.

When the granola 1st arrived out of the oven it wasn’t really granola-like. As a substitute it was tender, extremely chewy, and reminded me of an oatmeal cookie. Whilst the granola did firm up to some degree as it cooled, the ultimate texture was a lot more like a crunchy cookie, fairly than the fragile crisp you normally get with granola. The clumps also did not hold up properly — by the up coming working day they lost any crunch they had and were being pretty chewy and tough to consume.

About this system: The concept of this idea, which I picked up from Food52, is to bake the oat mixture at a higher temperature for a small time (375° F for 10 min), then flip off the oven and allow granola awesome absolutely in the oven, preferably right away. In principle, this should operate with just about any granola recipe. Though Food52 doesn’t give instructions about spreading the granola, I took the intel I gleaned from building 10+ batches of granola in a row and distribute the oat mixture in a skinny, cohesive layer on the baking sheet in an exertion to encourage much more clusters and clumps.

Effects: I liked the simplicity of this low-work strategy, but however the texture did not provide. Yes, there are a great deal of clumps, but the brief burst of warmth wasn’t ample to completely dry out and crisp the oats, so the oats retained a honest amount of chew.

About this strategy: This technique, applied in a recipe from Sally’s Baking Recipes, requires a two-pronged method at generating granola clusters. Very first, it provides a combo of complete wheat flour and almond flour (or almond food), which act as a binder to maintain the oat combination with each other. Next is the bakeware. This recipe opts for a 9×13-inch baking pan in its place of the normal rimmed sheet pan. The other twist is that just right before the final 10 minutes of cooking, you reduce the granola into squares and split it into lesser clusters.

Effects: If this technique promptly reminds you of granola bars, you are not by yourself. I imagine the flour labored effectively as a binder and there were being some big clusters, but over-all this process yielded typically smaller granola clusters and a large amount of oat crumbs.

Going into this take a look at, I was especially curious about how the duo of flours would impact the flavor and texture of the granola, and I have to say that I was pleasantly shocked. I observed the flour to be undetectable in phrases of flavor, and it gave the clusters a a little sandy texture that reminded me of a Character Valley granola bar. I do believe that this system (the flour addition, at least) would yield more substantial clumps of granola if the oat mixture have been cooked on baking sheet.

About this technique: According to Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen, “Nothing glues like protein.” Even though there are lots of granola recipes that contain an egg white, I obtained this tip from the Massive Cluster Maple Granola recipe in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. The egg white is whisked right up until frothy (20 to 30 seconds will do it), then stirred into the oat mixture. The notion is that the egg’s protein will help the oats bind to each and every other and create sensitive clusters. 

Results: Not only does the egg white operate as a glue to keep the oats alongside one another, but it also presents the granola an amazingly crispy chunk. This method made mostly small, delicate clumps (and a good quantity of granola “crumbs”), which very easily crack apart. Although the granola was not way too really hard to chew, it did have a rough chunk that I didn’t care for and just could not get earlier.

About this strategy: This technique from Cookie + Kate relies on in a natural way gluten-cost-free chickpea flour to produce clubs. This no-stir approach calls for spreading the granola in an even layer on the baking sheet so it will naturally clump jointly as it bakes.

Effects: The oat mixture baked into a sheet of granola with a delicately crisp texture, which was straightforward to split aside into clumps that held alongside one another nicely with minimal oat “crumbs.” The chickpea flour worked nicely as a binder, whilst it is well worth noting that it does impart a refined flavor and gritty texture. That was not a downside for me, but this granola may not be for absolutely everyone.

About this system: This unconventional solution comes from former Bon Appétit editor Claire Saffitz, who tweaked her mom’s recipe to make this granola. When I observed bran flake cereal on the component checklist and go through Saffitz’s assert that the clusters are what make her recipe so great, I understood I experienced to give it a attempt. “This provides clusters of all diverse measurements and shapes, some massive and some modest,” she writes. The notion is that the cereal flakes act as a raft of types for the other components to cling to, though the wheat germ (along with an egg white) act as a binder to glue almost everything together. You won’t want to stray way too considerably from the kitchen area though the granola bakes since you’ll will need to to stir it midway through.

Success: Many thanks to the cereal flakes (and binders), there had been craggy, chunk-sizing clumps just before the baking sheet even went into the oven. The cereal flakes inspire cluster creation and their sensitive crispiness provides another layer of texture to the granola, which is seriously astounding.

If you like a granola with small clumps (fairly than shards damaged from a sheet of granola) and never intellect unfastened granola “crumbs,” this method is value trying.

About this process: A twist on the spread-and-push system, Food items52 shares this recipe from former pastry chef and cookbook writer, Alana Taylor-Tobin. In enjoyment tale that’s like a activity of telephone, Taylor-Tobin memorized the recipe from her pastry college instructor, Clair Legas, who stole it from chef Casey Hayden when they worked with each other. The method calls for spreading the granola in a thin layer (despite the fact that marginally thicker all around the edges, the place it cooks faster), then topping it with a further layer of parchment and a next baking sheet. The granola is sandwiched between two baking sheets even though it cooks and stays that way until finally it is completely cooled.

Effects: You’ll have to have an added piece of cookware in this article, but it’s really worth it. The end result is a massive sheet of evenly-coloured, deep golden-brown granola that is crispy and clumped alongside one another. Taylor-Tobin likens it to a delicate granola bar and I could not agree more. The granola is uncomplicated to split aside into no matter what dimension clumps you like and is incredibly effortless to consume. Whole nuts never stick in the clumps incredibly properly (sliced or chopped nuts would function better), and you will get some teeny-little clusters and oat crumbs, but on the entire this method makes for awesome sizing granola clumps that keep with each other effectively.

About this method: This easy technique, advise by various resources, which includes Alexandra Cooks, relies on a incredibly very low oven temperature (275°F, which is decrease than most granola recipes) and an hour-extended bake time, with definitely no stirring. While lots of granola recipes depend on stirring the oat mixture to make sure even cooking, it’s also what breaks up the clumps — which is presumably why this recipe and lots of of the many others I tested do not incorporate stirring.

Final results: There is definitely practically nothing fancy right here, which is a single of the matters I adore about this technique. It produces an evenly cooked batch of granola with crispy, bite-sizing clumps. Supplied the hour-extensive cook dinner time and deficiency of stirring I was primarily amazed by how evenly the granola baked. If you want a super-uncomplicated method and like chunk-measurement granola clumps about enormous shards, you actually cannot conquer this system.

About this process: The strategy behind this strategy, utilised in the Mega Clump Granola recipe in The Initial Mess Cookbook, phone calls for spreading the combination to the edges of the rimmed baking sheet, then pressing down to compact the combination. The granola is baked in a reasonable oven (325° F) without stirring, then is left to awesome entirely on the baking sheet. 

Benefits: The detail that stood out to me most about this method is how durable the granola clusters ended up, with no currently being difficult or challenging. When the granola cooled it was really uncomplicated to crack the sheet into no matter what sizing clumps I required. And there had been incredibly minimum granola “crumbs.” The clumps of granola have a crispy, crunchy texture, and were being simple to eat. This was my personalized favourite method and the a single I can’t wait around to make all over again.

If big, strong shards of granola are what you’re following, you will like this process.

Following testing 9 unique approaches for clumpy granola (some of which I produced extra than after), there have been a number of typical procedures that popped up all over again and again, together with some basic guidelines that will assistance you make clumpy granola, no matter of the recipe you use.